Epidemiology

Epidemiology is the study of health and illness in the community and is considered the foundation of public health.

At KCHD, the Division of Epidemiology tracks infectious diseases, investigates disease outbreaks, educates medical providers and the general public about illness in our community, and most importantly, teaches how to prevent the spread of these diseases.

What are infectious diseases?

An infectious disease is any illness that can be spread from one person to another. Many people may think that such diseases no longer exist in this country but that is not true. Infectious diseases include everything from the very uncommon, such as ebola virus, to the every day common cold.

Information on specific illnesses or diseases and ways you can protect you and your family from getting sick. Here are five easy steps you can take to help protect yourself and your loved ones from getting sick.

Developed as a primary method to share information with federal, state, territorial, and local public health practitioners, clinicians, and public health laboratories, CDC’s Health Alert Network (HAN) is the primary method to share information on urgent public health incidents. The State of West Virginia has a similar system (WV-HAN) designed to share information on urgent public health incidents specific to West Virginia as well.